The Lead: Oprah Says Armstrong Confesses to Doping

Lance Armstrong biking in Hawaii. A confession may clear the way for Armstrong's return to professional sports.

flickr.com/larryobrien

Good morning. Austin’s facing a chilly and drizzly Tuesday morning. The National Weather Service says we'll warm to a high in the low to mid 40s. The rest of the state is not so lucky: the AP reports flights have been suspended at Dallas’ Love Field. (Update: the AP reports Love Field is open again.)

Lead story: The fever pitch around Lance Armstrong’s interview with Oprah Winfrey continues to build. Now after anonymous reports surfaced that Armstrong confessed, a reported round of apologies to the Livestrong staff, and a panoply of media trucks descended on Armstrong’s West Austin home, the talk show titan herself confirms it: in an appearance on CBS This Morning today, Winfrey said Armstrong did indeed confess to doping in their three-hour long interview.

The folks at FOX News write that Oprah’s absolution is not, well, absolute: they cite a Reuters report stating Armstrong did 'not come clean in the manner' she expected.

The interview has also been expanded into a two-night affair. It begins airing Thursday evening.

Violent stickup in northeast Austin: As KUT News reported yesterday, an Austin police officer was injured during a shootout near a shopping center in northeast Austin.

APD say it started shortly after 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon at the Capital Plaza Shopping Center off I-35. Someone robbed the driver of an armored vehicle and took off. People called 9-1-1 and police chased the suspect to a wooded area near the Springdale Shopping Center at Manor and Springdale Roads. That’s where the shootout happened.

Nothing secedes… : Here’s some not terribly surprising news: that petition to the White House asking for Texas to secede didn’t go all that well. In an elegantly worded response (in place of a far more succinct, one-word, two-letter response others might consider), the White House said that the Founding Fathers who created the Union “did not provide a right to walk away from it.” That surprisingly hasn’t sat well with some of the backers of the petition.

Among the equally likely scenarios the White House has balked at: a request the U.S. immediately begin construction of a Death Star. In a blow to Force fans, POTUS’ team has declared, “This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For.” (Get it?)

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For almost 10 years, traffic deaths were relatively low in Austin. Then last year they spiked. Now two city council members want a study to look into why so many people died on Austin’s roads in 2012. Austin City Council Member Laura Morrison is certain that population growth cannot be the reason for so many traffic deaths. At least, not the only reason. “We got to figure out why,” Morrison says. “That spike and that increase is actually a trend that we are seeing nationwide. So, I suspect there’s something going on much more generally across the nation that our increase might be related to.”

Public-private partnerships have been back in the news lately, after the Sunset Advisory Commission put a halt to some development projects being discussed for the Capitol area. Lawmakers want to tighten up some of the laws governing the Texas Facilities Commission and public-private partnerships, or P3's.

Responding to petitions from Texas and seven other states calling for the right to secede, the White House called for healthy debate, but to not let "that debate tear us apart." "In a nation of 300 million people — each with their own set of deeply-held beliefs — democracy can be noisy and controversial. And that's a good thing," wrote Jon Carson, director of the Office of Public Engagement, in a statement called "Our States Remain United." "Free and open debate is what makes this country work, and many people around the world risk their lives every day for the liberties we often take for granted."